Best way to approach investment

brendanxx

After a lifetime of no money I am about to inherit around £60K. I've no experience of dealing with this amount of money - to many it's small to me it's immense. Any advice about the safest way to look after it - I'm at Barclays now but am uncomfortable with its military investment portfolio. What bak should I consider, should I invest, buy bitcoin? Any advice, however general ,most welcome and appreciated.

Mark_d

There are a number of options open to someone who inherits that amount of money.  If I was to inherit £60k now I would pay £20k in to my S&S ISA, increase my pension contributions to 100% of my salary, and live off the remainder of the inheritance - It would earn a reasonable amount of interest whilst sitting in my Kroo current account.

What's right for you would depends on your age, health, employment situation and the current state of your finances.

PRAISETHESUN

Ultimately it depends on what you want to do with the money. Do you need access to it over the next few years, or can you lock it away somewhere? Putting it in an easy access savings account paying a decent interest rate is the simplest approach, but may not be the way to maximise returns. Locking the money away in notice/fixed-term savings can offer better returns, but you can't access your money as readily. Investing (stocks/shares) can often (but not always) provide even better returns, but requires at least a 5 year timeline (ideally longer) to ride out any bumps in the market. Avoid crypto - that is gambling, not investing.

brendanxx

Many thanks for comments - I am 73 and,  I guess, don't want to put it away for five years. Will mull your comments over.

Zanderman

brendanxx said:

Many thanks for comments - I am 73 and,  I guess, don't want to put it away for five years. Will mull your comments over.

Actual investing, in a portfolio of funds with any body, your bank or otherwise, is a long term thing.

If you're unhappy with the concept of 5 years (the minimum usually recommended for actual investments), don't invest.

Just put it in a savings savings account (or a cash - not stocks and shares - ISA) with a good rate of interest.

60k at 5% would bring in £3k per annum. Not a bad return. And the capital stays untroubled by market fluctuations.

You might need to pay tax on that interest depending on your circumstances, so maxing the amount in a cash ISA (20k per annum) would help reduce tax liability as interest on that 20k would be tax-free.

Beddie

 Spend some of it, or give away to family. Put £20k in a cash ISA and the rest in premium bonds.

Best ISA rates: https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/easy-access-cash-isas/

Probably Kent Reliance if you want a nice simple process, though not quite the highest rates.

SiliconChip

Your best starting point is to use the correct board, Savings & Investments, the clue is in the title

Albermarle

As above, this forum is mainly about bank accounts and this is the one you want.
Savings & investments — MoneySavingExpert Forum

If you repost on there include all detail you can. Like your age, any debts or other savings for example.
This is because what you should do with £60K, is different to what somebody else in a different situation should do.